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Rs 15 cr more sought for water supply in Kolar dist

Last Updated 14 August 2015, 18:31 IST

The district administration has sought the State government to release Rs 15 crore to meet the expenses for water supply through tankers.

Speaking at a meeting on water scarcity here on Friday, Deputy Commissioner Dr K V Trilok Chandra said that the administration owes around Rs nine crore to water tanker owners. The executive officers of all the taluk panchayats have submitted a report in this regard and the money would be released in a week after verifying the accounts, he said.

The deputy commissioner said that the district needs more funds for supplying water through tankers.

He was speaking at a meeting of the officials and elected representatives here on Friday to discuss water scarcity in the district. Lok Sabha member K H Muniyappa chaired the meeting.

It was decided in the meeting to take steps for installing motors and provide power connection to 412 newly sunk borewells for tackling water scarcity.

It was decided that the officials concerned should inspect and give information about the motors. Location should be identified for sinking borewells in 616 villages of the district where water scarcity has assumed grave proportions. The meeting also decided that permission should be obtained from the Forest department to sink borewells in forest land.

Outsourcing geologists
The district has only two geologists and hence three geologists should be hired per taluk on outsource basis. The work of identifying borewell points should be taken up on a war footing using the latest scanning technology.

It was also decided that pure drinking water units should be set up in villages with more than 500 population, under the corporate social responsibility scheme.

“Rural parts of the district are reeling under severe water scarcity. At present water is being supplied from private borewells and through tankers in these areas. The situation would turn grim if steps are not taken to address the problem in the initial stages. The officials have not installed motors to the newly sunk borewells with the sole  purpose of facilitating water supply contractors,” Deputy Commissioner Dr K V Trilok Chandra said.

He said that there have been several complaints from the public stating that the panchayat development officers of gram panchayats, executive officers of taluk panchayats and assistant executive engineers are not responding to the problem of water shortage. The officials have been shunning their responsibilities pointing fingers at each other. “Disciplinary action will be initiated against the officials if they continue to behave this way,” the deputy commissioner warned.

Steps should be taken to obtain information on the dried up borewells and the motors therein. The motors in such borewells should be installed for the newly sunk borewells. The PDOs and EOs will be suspended for dereliction of duty in case of any negligence in this regard, the DC said.

He said that the tahsildars, assistant executive engineers and executive engineers should hold a meeting at taluk level every week on water scarcity and submit a report.
He said that Kolar needs 130 MW of power every day whereas the supply is only 30 MW per day for the past eight days. The district has been facing power shortage as some of the units in Ballari and Udupi thermal power stations have stopped generation. Talks have been held with Bescom officials to address the problem, the DC added.

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(Published 14 August 2015, 18:31 IST)

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